Yulka wandered the cold, dimly lit streets, numb to the world around her. Her heart still ached from the cruel words her mother had yelled, the image of her mother’s face twisted in anger. The alcohol had made her bitter, and all Yulka wanted was to escape from the suffocating atmosphere that had once been her home.
The city buzzed with life, people going about their business, indifferent to the pain she was carrying inside. She had no place to go. No one to turn to.
Her childhood home was gone, replaced by the emptiness of rejection. Yulka hadn’t told anyone about the horrors that had happened within those walls, the way her mother had pushed her out like a piece of garbage. And that man, Yurka… He was the final straw. He had tried to take advantage of her, and though she didn’t call the police, the damage had already been done. Her mother blamed her for everything that went wrong, even her own misery.
She couldn’t bear it anymore. Her feet led her to Masha’s place, her one and only friend. She arrived at Masha’s door, drenched in tears and exhaustion, unable to hide the devastation in her eyes.
“Yulka, what happened?” Masha asked, rushing to embrace her. After listening to Yulka’s story, Masha offered the only solution she could think of: “You should go to Moscow. I have enough money for a ticket. You can stay with your relatives there.”
Yulka hesitated. She didn’t know her relatives, but there was no other option. With Masha’s help, she made the decision, and soon she found herself on a train to Moscow, not knowing what awaited her.
When she arrived at the unfamiliar address, a pleasant woman greeted her at the door. “Are you Alexandra Valeryevna?” Yulka asked nervously.
The woman raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Yes, and you are?”
“I’m your relative,” Yulka said, her voice faltering. “On my father’s side.”
“Come in, then. Let’s see what we can do,” Aunt Sasha said, beckoning her inside.
Aunt Sasha’s apartment was small and modest. Her husband, Uncle Petya, was disabled, and they lived on a small pension. Despite their struggles, Aunt Sasha was kind and welcoming.
“We don’t have much,” she explained, “but if you stay, you’ll be a part of our family.”
Yulka was touched by her warmth. She had expected nothing but rejection, but Aunt Sasha treated her with a kindness she hadn’t known in years. Determined to repay her, Yulka started helping with the housework, but the work wasn’t enough. She needed to find something to do, anything that would allow her to contribute.
One day, while cleaning the yard, Yulka began to notice things. People often threw out items that still had value: clothes, shoes, dishes, trinkets. She couldn’t help herself—she began collecting them, hiding them away in the janitor’s closet. They were remnants of lives lived, discarded but not without worth. She felt a strange connection to them, as if they mirrored her own situation.
As the months passed, Yulka’s collection grew. It wasn’t much, but she had enough to start selling some of the items. She didn’t expect much, but it was enough to get by. Her life in Moscow was a far cry from the nightmare she had left behind, but she had found a way to survive.
Years later, Yulka had become a successful entrepreneur, running a secondhand shop in Moscow. She had turned her rejection, her pain, and the scraps of forgotten lives into a thriving business. One day, she received a letter from her mother.
“Yulka, I’m sorry for everything. I was wrong. Please come back.”
Yulka read the letter with a cold heart. Her mother’s apology meant nothing to her. She had already built a new life, one where she was in control, and she didn’t need the woman who had once thrown her out like trash.
But as she sat in her office, surrounded by the treasures she had salvaged from the streets, Yulka couldn’t help but smile. It was ironic. Her mother had rejected her, but in the end, it was Yulka who had created something from nothing—something that her mother could never take credit for.
And in that moment, Yulka knew: this was her victory. She had been thrown away, but in time, she had found her place in the world, and no one could take that from her.